Leader for fishing lines



Oct. 5, 1943. w. F. MINCENBERG I 3 LEADER FOR FISHING LINES Filed Jan. 15, 1943 gwwm Patented Oct. 5, 1943 3 This invention relates: to 'fishlngitackleand more particularly to a novel form of leader for at: tachment ;to the fishing line'of said tackle )The object of the invention is ,to provide a leader v, of simple and inexpensive 1 construction which 'will support a; hook on;v a. fishing line in spaced relation thereto so asto prevent either the leader or hook from becoming ,entangledwiththe 1 line w hen making'acasting or while fishingg .A further; object of the invention is to provide a leader the; construction of which is such that after making a casting the leader maybe moved upward pull on the fishing line to elevated or operative position. exerting. an

{A further objectis to providea' metallic A 1 UNITEDLQSTATES B -NTorrlce it 1' i; H T 2,' 331,2 -1 V 4 r I FO E i I liWS W wm .F-Mneeib rm da i w "engagem nts 13, 19i3iseria1-1ns.4i2,2ie it "ifomms. (Chip-27L mentwiththe eye-inthexshankofthe-hook, and

one end of which. is" formed with aspringlloop, for y attachmentto the adjacent portions of a fishing line and "the other 'endthereof providedj witli means forfdetachabl engagementfwith a ho'ok', the resiliency of the "loop serving to relieve ten sion on the fishing linev in cas'g' oi albacklashfand thus prevent breakage oi theflinei,v J

1 4 Afurther object is to form the leader oppositely disposed t ch n eyes n otiwh j forms a fulcrum forjsaid loop when an upwajrd pull is exerted on the other jeyein the act'of moving the "leader to operativepositlon l A further object is to form the outeror free end of the leader. witha plurality of spring coils or'co'nvolution's' for detachable engagement with the shank of a fishing hook, the terminal of the leader being provided with a locking finger A still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and efiiciency.

' The improvedlhooksupporting 'leade Figurefi is a similar view showing how the "hook is .-rotated; on the coilsor convolutions; of the Ieaderto eleasasaid hook and showing in dotted lines how; he eye of the shank ofythe hooklds slidm-offgth'e ockingterminalj of the leadergto efiecfirelease of the hook therefrom? the subject-inatter of the present inventio shown in connection with'a fishingjline'ofstand; ard ,construction in which 5 designates ja lower flexible.sectionfprovided withthe usual sinker lli, and Tithe line fproper leading to the reel of a fish-' ing pole'or to the hand of the operator in case tneiieader 'is attached to 'afhand line. Th leader is preferably constructed of ia single' length of springmetal, such as piano wire,"so as to prevent and ll areformed, the wire is bent inwardly to t 7 adapted to extend through the eye oi the shank form converg g s l3 and M ere v g for detachably locking the hook in position on the leader. I n

In the accompanying drawing forming a part 3 of this specification and in which similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fishing line provided with a metallic hook supporting leader embodying the present invention, theIeader being shown in dotted lines in lowered or inoperative position and in full lines in elevated or operative position,

severance thereof 1 Icy voracious fish 'and thus I obviate the necessity ot constantly replacin" leaderLLS lengths, the wire constituting the terminal of the arm l3 being coiled around the bodyportion 8, as indicated at 15, or' otherwise secured: thereto r in any suitable manner.

The'wire constitutingthe outer or free end of a the leader is bent to form a*'plurality'of spring;

coils or convolutions lli for, detachable engage-' mer t with a fishing hook 11; the wire, after the last convolution is formed, being bent laterally to I form an open loop I 8 and thence extended longi- Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the loop portion of the leader,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the hook and adjacent portion of the leader showing how said hook is detachably locked in position thereon,-

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the shank of the hook moved longitudinally of the leader so' tudinally to form a locking finger IS, the terminal of which is preferably deflected laterally, as in -Y dicated at 20, and adapted to pass through the eye 2| son the shank of :the hook for the purpose of detachablylocking the hook in posit the leader. a 1 a In detaching the hook from' the leader, said hook is moved longitudinally of the bodyp ortionj 8 until the deflected locking finger I9 is disen- Zn on gaged from the eye 2| of the hook, asbest shown inFigure 40f the drawing. By then exerting an -1 outward longitudinal pull on the hook'androder coniprisesa straight longitudinallv. disposed body"portio"n 8 of, any Q desired [length tating said hook, the eye 2| will follow the path of the convolutions until said eye engages the loop I8 and in which position the hook may be detached from the leader by passing the eye 2| of the hook over the locking terminal, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5 of the drawing. In order to position the hook on the leader, the parts are moved in reverse order, as will be readily understood.

In making-a casting, the line is 'thrown out wardly in the'usual manner and when the sinker. 6 engages the bed of the stream, the leader and its associated parts will drop downwardly to the; c

dotted line position shown in Figure 1 of the drawing. As said leader is formed of spring wire,

therewith becoming entangled in the adjacent portion of the line is reduced to a minimum When an upward pull is exerted on the fishing line, the leader will be moved to the elevated or operative position shown in rull'lin'es in Figure "l of the "drawing and "during this upward movemerit-of the leadenthe eye H will forzna fulcrum on which the loop '9 turns during the lifting operation. It will here be noted t'hat the lower 'eye H is disp'osedon the o'utsidfe 'x'if the 'loopfl while the upper "eye NI extends within the loop. It will, furthermore, be noted that, inasmuch as the upper arm F3 of the loop is shorter than the "lower arm 14, the inside eye 10 in conjunction with the short arm l'3 will provide an increased leverage on the loop when elevating the leader preparatory to fishing. Attention is called to the tact that, inasmuch as the loop 9 is resilient, said loop serves to relieve tension on the fishing line in case of a backlash and thus prevent acci dental breakage of the line.

The leader is simplein construction and, as far as I am aware, is the only metal Ie'aderin which a hook may "be directly and quickly at-'- tached to or. removed from the leader without the employment of auxiliary fastening devices, such as -snells and the like. g

It will, of course, be understood that the leaders -may be made of difierent sizes and shapes and 'constructedo'f any suitable material without departing from lthesp'irit of the invention. Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is:

1. A leader for fishing lines comprising a longitudinally disposed resilient member having one end thereof bent to form a spring loop having oppositely disposed eyes for attachment to a fishing line and provided with converging portions or diiferent lengths, the terminal of one of which is wrapped around said member, the other end of said member having a plurality of spring convolutions to receive the shank of a hook, one of said convolutions beingoffset with respect thereto to form an open loopterminating in a locking finger adapted to extend through an eye on the shank of the hook for locking the hook in position on saidmember.

2. A leader-for fishing lines formed of a single .length =01. resilient wire having one end thereof provided with means for attachment to a fishing fish hook, the wire at one of the convolutions being t laterally to form an open loop terminating' in a locking finger adapted to extend throug'ha'n eye on said shank for locking the hook in position, said hook being movable longitudinally "of the leader to release the locking finger from the eye and permit detachment of said hook. s

3. 'A le'ader for fishing lines comprising 'a resilient strand having one end thereof provided with means forattachm'ent to a fishing line and itsother end bent to form a plurality of spring convolutions adapted to receive the shank of a fish hook and provided with a terminal locking finger adapted to extend through an eye on said shank, the shank of'the 'hook being rotatable longitudinally within the convolutions in one directionto release "the locking finger from said eye and in another direction to permit the locking'fflnger to be inserted through the eye.

4. The combination witha leader having a plurality of "resilient jconvolutions terminating in a locking finger the free end of which 'is deflected latera ly, of 'afish hook havinga shank extending throfighsaid convolutions and provided with an eye through whichthe deflected end of the finger extends for'detachably holding the hook in. position on the leader.

j if p j IWILLIAMEMINCENBERGM 

